Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

Swansea University will collaborate with Indian multinational Tata Steel to investigate perovskite solar cell materials that could be applied directly onto coated steel to make building-integrated PV components. The partnership will add to an “active buildings” project that the Welsh university has been running for several years.

JA Solar, TCL Zhonghuan, GCL Tech, and Ganfeng Lithium all announced increasing profits and revenue. Meanwhile, JinkoSolar expands its hydrogen business and Xinte Energy secures another big polysilicon supply deal.

Scientists tested bifacial PV devices based on silicon and gallium arsenide cells connected in a four terminal layout. They note that the four terminal design offers significant advantages over more common two terminal devices, allowing for a 17% (relative) increase in efficiency thanks to better absorption of light reaching the rear side.

UP Initiative sponsor, DuPont Teijin Films is investigating closed loop recycling processes, specifically looking at how its backsheets can be recovered and used as a raw material for new production. Since 2020, it has been working on industrial trials with customers to offer rPET backsheets across its entire product range, and proof of principal trials to demonstrate the commercial feasibility of a true closed loop recycling process. pv magazine caught up with Steven Davies, EMEA market manager to discover what progress has been made in the last year.

Our deepest view into the universe is powered by PV. NASA was one of the earliest adopters of solar technology, and it continues to be an important feature of spacecraft today.

The average global price of solar kilowatt-hours fell 13% on 2020’s prices, as around two-thirds of the renewables capacity installed last year was cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuel alternative.

An international research team has developed a new methodology to increase levels of pollination at ground-mounted solar plants. It involves the development of new vegetated land cover below and around solar parks.

Scientists in Germany looked to eliminate the use of toxic solvents in the production of perovskite solar cells, replacing them with a more environmentally material called dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) which has so far proved difficult to integrate into processes suitable for large-scale production. The group demonstrated a scalable blade coating process using DMSO as the only solvent, and reached cell efficiencies close to those achieved using more toxic substances.

Japanese scientists have developed a tandem device with a 19.5%-efficient perovskite top cell. They claim to have created a semi-transparent perovskite solar cell while maintaining high performance.

Trina Solar said the State Key Laboratory of PV Science and Technology in China has confirmed the efficiency rating of its latest solar panel.